Praise be to God! Praise be His holy name! Praise be Jesus Christ, now and forever. Praise Him who Is, who WAS, and who ALWAYS WILL BE! Praise Him who is perfect Mercy and perfect Justice. Praise Him, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Thank You, God, for all You have done, for all You are doing, and for all You will do. Praise You, God, for the many promptings You lavish on those who sit and listen for Your still small voice – promptings to pray for others, promptings to listen to those You have unexpectedly placed in our lives, promptings to share our stories and struggles with others. Thank You, God, for being present to us, and giving us small consolations and confirmations of that presence in our daily lives.
Forgive me, Lord, for all the times I would rather scroll on my phone instead of sitting and listening for You in prayer. Forgive me< Lord, for reacting to a request from a ten-year-old to snuggle with anything less than agreement and thanksgiving. Forgive me, Lord, for becoming more busy than You may have called me to be or for placing my own plans ahead of Yours. Forgive me, Lord, for all the times I have failed to just “get out of Your way” and let You be God!
Are you a planner? Maybe you are a “fly by the seat of your pants” kinda person. Planning and arranging are natural talents and tendencies for me. They are also a great tool for pushing myself to do things despite my mood or feelings. These natural talents and tendencies have served me well in my life, but there is and always has been the danger of allowing plans to become too important and make my expectations and reactions way too rigid. It is with much discipline and practice from the Lord that anyone, but especially me, the slow learner, hard-headed reactive me, can find the balance to plan but still allow God to move.
Now, remember I am a homeschooling mom of six. You can laugh out loud now! Laugh, because anyone who does not live alone knows how planning can be so futile when you are planning for more than one person in this fallen imperfect world. Yet, it has taken me such a long time to learn that I can plan, but God is still God and has every right to adjust my plans! It has taken me such a long time to learn to plan, but not hold my expectations rigidly. It has taken me such a long time to learn to plan, but to remember that all can change in a second.
Recently, I was blessed with recognizing how much God has taught me in this regard. Is it not wonderful to realize how God changes us! On a recent Tuesday, I had quite the full day planned. I was tutoring most of the day and my 15-year-old had a weekly club to attend. Then, God showed up!
God is so good and is not only in the details but arranges them. First, He opened up my morning and a few of my friend’s mornings, so that our souls could be fed with fellowship. Then, one of my afternoon students canceled, and my 15-year-old had some health issues that required her to rest in bed and skip her club. Then, my daughter-in-love needed a very last-minute babysitter. God moved my schedule all around so that I was refreshed, my 15-year-old was able to rest, and my son and daughter-in-love were able to have the free childcare they needed, not to mention, myself and hubby were able to enjoy time with our grandson and so were his aunties.
Thank You, God, for giving me the gift of recognizing Your blessing by changing my plans! Thank You for the growth of reacting with gratitude and not frustration. Thank You for it all.
Has God changed your plans recently? Can you recognize and share the blessing of allowing Him to rearrange your day? Share how God is working in your life- even if He is changing your plans!
Photo by Jess Bailey on Unsplash
